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Part of a leader’s job—a big part—is to define the destination. You can call it the vision, the target, the goal. At a certain point, these terms become almost interchangeable. They are all some version of “This is where we want to go.” Problems can arise, however, when the leader follows “This is where we want to go” with a rigid “And this is how we’re going to get there.”
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Leaders—good leaders, that is—put a lot of thought into the makeup of the various teams for which they’re responsible. They’re very concerned with, as Jim Collins put it, “getting the right people on the bus.” I’ve even written about the 5 people you should have on your team (you can read that post by clicking here). But, what about the size of the team? It turns out, when it comes to teams, size does matter.
David Bowie existed before Ziggy Stardust, but it was Ziggy Stardust that put him on the map. The striking, glam costume; the red hair; the over-the-top Spiders from Mars tour—all these elements, plus, of course, the music, shot David Bowie into stardom. But the glam rock era eventually faded. And if David Bowie had stayed there, he would have been solely of that time, and faded along with it.
Do you want to produce breakthrough results in your business? In your industry? In your life? I’m not talking about incremental results, the “Hey, look, we got a new logo!” kind of results. I’m talking about the game-changers. The quantum leap kind of results that can redefine an industry. If those are the kind of results you want to produce, you might be able to learn a thing or two (or three)…from Donald Trump.
Steve Jobs! Mark Zuckerberg! Elon Musk! All of them have produced (and, in some cases, are continuing to produce—although Steve has lowered his output a bit) breakthrough results! What must it be like to live in their world, to breathe their rarefied air! Well, here’s the thing. Breakthrough results are not limited to the elite few. You can produce breakthrough results just as well as anyone else. But first, you may need to let go of some of the habits ...
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You all know Bill Nye the Science Guy. If you’re of a certain age, you grew up watching him on TV. If you’re beyond a certain age, your kids grew up watching him on TV. But did you know that Bill Nye the Science Guy was invented out of desperation on January 10, 1987? And it all happened because a low-paid comedy writer asked a different question.
How often have you gotten stuck while looking for a new idea, or seeking the solution to a problem? Want to know a cool way to get unstuck?
When I was writing television sketch comedy, I used to have a lot of trouble coming up with endings to my sketches (endings are notoriously difficult). I’d work out a nice premise, ...
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In his wonderful book, A Whack on the Side of the Head (still one of the seminal books about creativity), Roger Von Oech talks about the concept of looking for the Second Right Answer. The idea is that most people (and you can substitute “people” with “leaders,” “teams,” and even “organizations”), when looking for a solution to a problem or challenge, stop after coming up with a solution. A solution. One, single solution. But just because it’s the first solution ...
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (now, for example): good ideas are everywhere. The problem is that most of us don’t know how to look for them. We don’t see them, because many times good ideas come disguised as something else. Sometimes we have to work a little to see the application to our own lives and ...
Many people say they come up with their best ideas in the shower. Why is that? Here are my Top 7 Reasons why your shower is your Personal Idea Booth!
